


obligatory philosophy

by Lovelylime



Category: Granblue Fantasy (Video Game), Granblue Fantasy the animation
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:20:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24798319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lovelylime/pseuds/Lovelylime
Summary: Being a cog in a machine meant you could take action without personal repercussion, have the reward without the risk. And Katalina Aryze believed it was the best way to live; in the service of the Empire.Until she started seeing the girl.
Relationships: Katalina Aryze/Lyria
Kudos: 7





	obligatory philosophy

**Author's Note:**

> Ive seen like four episodes of this anime and these two are so soft

There can be a sense of comfort in the lack of freedom. Giving the control of your life over to the people whose orders you follow takes the weight of the consequences off of your back. Being a cog in a machine meant you could take action without personal repercussion, have the reward without the risk. And Katalina Aryze believed it was the best way to live; in the service of the Empire. 

Until she started seeing the girl. 

The first time it happened, Katalina was in an unfamiliar part of the ship. Repairs and maintenance work had rerouted her unit, and it was as she crossed the walkway that she saw the girl for the first time. 

Unkempt hair fell around her small, trembling form as she passed, surrounded by armed guards. That was the first thing Katalina noticed; the ridiculous degree of security for such a small and nonthreatening charge. The second thing she noticed was just how pitiful the girl looked, curled in on herself and frighteningly pale. She was clearly a prisoner, but for no discernible reason--what could a five-foot-nothing civilian possibly do to the Empire? Watching her pass, Katalina felt something brewing in her chest, but the girl was out of sight and out of mind before Katalina could put a name to it. Days passed, and when Katalina didn’t come across the girl again, she assumed that the girl had been released, as it was clearly some sort of mistake that had led to her capture. 

It never occurred to Katalina that the girl could be held captive permanently. 

But after Katalina was granted the rank of Lieutenant and the extra freedoms that came along with it, she started seeing the girl again. She was always in transit, escorted by guards, and she always seemed to be brought back and forth along the same route. Katalina watched as days became weeks became months, and the only change in the girl’s situation was the addition of chains and handcuffs along with the armed guard, and then every time Katalina saw her she seemed more and more helpless. 

The existence of the girl weighed on her. She haunted Katalina’s thoughts and dreams with her gaunt, hopeless face, poking holes in the philosophy Katalina had given herself over to. Following orders meant Katalina couldn’t intervene in the girl’s case, whatever it was, much less try to free her or reduce her sentence. Following orders meant that Katalina couldn’t refuse when she was assigned to watch over the girl in captivity. 

It was worse than anything she could have imagined. It wasn’t only imprisonment, it was experimentation. Day in, day out, they poked and prodded and tested and _hurt_ the girl, oblivious to the pain, the fear, the tears, as they tried to uncover the source of her supposed power. The Empire wanted to harvest her for energy, use her as a weapon. Day in, day out, they denied she was a human being. 

So for the first time in her career, maybe even in her life, Katalina Aryze broke orders. 

She waited until the guards set to watch her during the night were both from Katalina’s unit. And then, after the scientists and engineers and torturers had left for the night, she went down from her post and dismissed the guards. They would keep quiet, Katalina knew; everyone under her command subscribed to the same philosophy Katalina held. Or had held, because she was aware that as soon as she entered the cell, she was a traitor. 

Cell doors popped open easily into a large room, completely bare except for a bed in the center, and a skylight above it. The girl was laying on the bed, staring up at the skylight. Katalina wondered how long it’d been since this girl had seen the sky. 

Katalina cleared her throat, alerting the girl to her presence. She looked up, wild-eyed, and dashed to her feet. Katalina didn’t realize what she was doing until the girl held out her wrists, preparing to be handcuffed. She thought she was already being taken back there. It made Katalina feel sick. 

She shook her head, holding up her hands in an attempt to calm the girl. At the puzzled look she got, Katalina tried to clarify her intent by hesitantly asking, “What’s your name?” 

A beat of silence dragged on uncomfortably long, long enough that Katalina wondered if the girl was even able to speak, before, “... Lyria.” 

“Lyria? That’s a pretty name.” Katalina still had her hands up, but the girl--Lyria--seemed to relax at the compliment. “How long have you been here, Lyria?” 

“Oh, I just got back a little while ago. I was up in the-” 

Katalina shook her head. “Not the room, the ship. The custody of the Empire, I mean.” 

“Oh.” Lyria sat down on the bed, looking down at the floor. “I don’t know. I think it’s been a long time.” 

Gods, that wrenches at Katalina’s heart; she can’t even remember how long it’s been. “Well, what was it like when you were out?” 

Lyria looked back up, confused. “I’ve… never been out. All I remember is being in here.” And Katalina’s blood ran cold. Never been out? Was she born in here? What kind of unholy experiment was the Empire running on this gods-damned ship? 

Her admission struck Katalina off guard, but Lyria was oblivious to her shock. In fact, she got more and more relaxed as the conversation went on. “What about you? When was the last time you went out?”  


Now Katalina was struck with the desire to give Lyria anything she could of the outside world, some small taste of the limitless sky that existed beyond the confines of the airship. So she walked over (slowly, to give Lyria enough time to express any discomfort) and sat down beside her on the bed. Lyria scooted to the side to give her room, pulling her legs up and resting her head on her knees. 

“Well, last time I was deployed, it was to this tiny little island with these…” 

They talked until the sun shone through the skylight, and Katalina slipped back out of the room only minutes before the guard’s shift change. 

It quickly became part of Katalina’s routine. She tracked the guard rotations outside Lyria’s cell, and every night the assigned guard was under Katalina’s authority, she would dismiss them, and spent the night talking to Lyria. For someone who couldn’t remember anything outside of town rooms and a hallway, Lyria was surprisingly thoughtful. It didn’t take long for their conversations to become the highlight of Katalina’s week. 

It also didn’t take long for her daily duties to become unbearable. The more she got to know Lyria, the harder it was to watch what they did to her. Lyria was unfailingly kind, even to her captors, and barely a month after their first talk Katalina found herself desperately trying to smother her rage before she started maiming colleagues. And she did hold herself back, for months more. 

Until the Empire crossed a line. 

Until they hurt Lyria so much more than Katalina could bear to see. 

At the sight of that tear-streaked face, body wracked by shuddering breaths as Lyria sobbed, crumpled on the ground, Katalina Aryze resolved to spend the rest of her life disobeying orders. To spend her life a traitor, shouldering the consequences of her own actions, if it meant Lyria could see the limitless sky for herself. 

The next night that her men stood guard, they had barely arrived at their post when Katalina was sending them home and bursting into the room, holding her hand out to take Lyria to freedom. Small, pale fingers closed around her own, and when Katalina turned to run she never looked back.

**Author's Note:**

> love you, thanks for reading


End file.
